In Somalia, journalist killed in Mogadishu

May 24, 2012 5:13 PM ET

Nairobi, May 24, 2012--Assailants
in Mogadishu today gunned down the host of a critical radio program, further
punctuating what has already been a deadly year for the Somali press corps and
for the journalist's employer, the Shabelle Media Network.

Four unidentified
men fired
repeatedly at Ahmed
Addow Anshur at around 1:45 this afternoon while he was in Bo'le Market, in
Dharkenley District, local journalists told CPJ. Ahmed was on his way home from
work, the journalists said. Eyewitnesses said that soldiers of the Somali
government were in the general area of the shooting, but did nothing when the
attack happened, according to local journalists. The motive for the attack was
unclear, and no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Ahmed produced and hosted
a popular late-night political program, "Qubanaha Waraka" (News Content), that
was highly critical of both the Somali government and the insurgent group Al-Shabaab,
according to local journalists. He had worked for Shabelle Media Network for
more than three years.

"It is always the
same pattern: Our journalists are being targeted when they are walking home
from work," Mohamed Amin, the deputy director of the Shabelle Media Network, told
CPJ. "We are really scared but committed to continuing our editorial
independence." Shabelle TV and radio stopped broadcasting for several hours
today to mourn their colleague, the outlet said in a statement.

"Shabelle
journalists have paid a terribly high price for their courageous work, as has
the entire Somali press corps," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes.
"The international community owes a great debt to these journalists who have persevered
despite the great risk. Somali authorities must do their utmost to investigate
this murder and end impunity in the killings of journalists."

Ahmed was buried at Jazeera Cemeteries in the southern suburbs of Mogadishu. He
leaves behind a wife he recently married.

Shabelle, the
nation's leading broadcaster, has seen two other staffers killed this year,
according to CPJ research. In all,
five journalists have been killed in Somalia this year in addition to Ahmed,
according to CPJ research.
Unidentified assailants killed former Radio Shabelle Director Hassan
Osman in January in Mogadishu and Mahad
Salad Adan in the central town of Beledweyne in April. In addition, Radio Shabelle
News Director Moyhadin
Hassan narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in March, he told CPJ.

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